There is optimism for coal markets in 2021, but the extent of it remains unknown given competing factors and continued economic uncertainty, Andy Blumenfeld, heads of market analytics at IHS Markit, said March 10. Receive daily email alerts, subscriber notes & personalize your experience. Register Now “In terms of the outlook, a recovery is happening and it’s quite considerable,” Blumenfeld said at the American Coal Council 2021 Spring Coal Forum. “There’s a lot of optimism.” S&P Global Platts Analytics projections match Blumenfeld’s optimism with utility coal burn expected to increase approximately 95 million st year on year to 522 million st in 2021 and bullish expectations for prices compared with last year. Largely, Blumenfeld was bullish on pricing. Although, increased freight rates are a “fly in the ointment,” he said. While the […]